Finance and Insurance

As a natural trading center for hundreds of years, the Milwaukee Region has perfected the financial tools needed to facilitate commerce – access to capital, investment management services and equity trading. Approximately seven percent of the region’s workforce is employed in the financial services sector, which is second only to Boston.

The Milwaukee Region sets the standard for insurers nationwide. Northwestern Mutual, the world’s largest provider of individual life insurance plans, manages more than $136 billion in assets and employs 5,000 at its campuses in downtown Milwaukee and suburban Franklin. Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. (MGIC) is the nation’s leading provider of private mortgage insurance and Assurant Health sells more individual health insurance products than any other insurer in the country.

One of the nation’s largest bank-holding companies – Marshall & Ilsley Corp. with $63 billion in assets – is headquartered here and several other leading financial institutions, including Chase, Johnson Bank, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo have major operations in the area. The region also is home to Robert. W. Baird, a global private equity, research and financial services firm with offices in Germany, England, China and Hong Kong. Several investment management companies have major operations here, including Mason Street Advisors, Artisan Partners, Wells Fargo Wealth Management, Heartland Advisors and Stark Investments.
 

MAJOR FINANCIAL SECTOR EMPLOYERS